ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A retired New Jersey police officer has filed a lawsuit against an Atlantic City restaurant, alleging a draft beer he ordered three years ago contained a corrosive cleaner that severely injured him. Washart, a retired Ocean City police officer, said events began when he went out for dinner on Nov. 6, 2012 to McCormick and Schmick’s at Harrah’s Casino in Atlantic City.

Richard Washart alleges his beverage contained a substance used to clean one of McCormick and Schmick’s beer dispensing lines, according to a report on Philly.com. With a new career as a full-time supervisor of paramedics, he was out to celebrate the successful reboot of AtlantiCare’s emergency medical services with co-workers.

According to Press of Atlantic City, retired police officer Richard Washart was celebrating a business deal at seafood chain McCormick & Schmick’s inside Harrah’s casino in 2012 when he accidentally ingested the contaminated beer. Washart continues to receive regular treatment for his injuries that includes the erosion of about 25 percent of his stomach lining, according to his doctors. According to the lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Washart ordered a Sam Adams Winter Lager on draft and after taking the first sip, “he immediately felt pain from his mouth to his sternum.” He ran to the bathroom where he began vomiting profusely, and soon began throwing up blood. Washart was seriously sickened and permanently injured due to the fact that the beer tap system at McCormick & Schmick’s was improperly maintained.” “McCormick & Schmick denies the baseless allegations made by Mr. McCormick & Schmick said in a statement Wednesday that the allegation is “baseless” and the lawsuit “frivolous.” The restaurant said there’s no evidence proving the restaurant did anything wrong.

Washart isn’t the first person to suffer serious injuries from accidentally consuming cleaning products at a restaurant: In 2014 a Dickey’s Barbecue customer drank tea that was laced with a lye-based industrial cleaner and wound up in the hospital in critical condition; she later settled for an undisclosed sum. D’Amato’s law firm in an attempt to posture and gain media attention on a case that was filed on his client’s behalf more than two years ago,” the statement said. “During the entire course of this litigation, Mr. Determined to ensure that what happened to him never happens to another patron of any restaurant or bar, the Washart’s retained the D’Amato Law Firm to investigate the events that led to his poisoning and hold those responsible fully accountable. “Based on our investigation, and reflected in the Complaint,” said Paul D’Amato, Esq., “we determined that Mr. Short of preparing all their beverages at home, it might be difficult for consumers to protect themselves from these types of rare but dangerous situations — but restaurants would be wise to implement strict policies on when and how their beverage systems must be cleaned in order to stave off future lawsuits.